Horses are generally ridden with saddles, which are essentially a leather seat for the rider built around a rigid support and secured to the animal's back by a girth or a strap. The rigid support or tree is often times constructed of wood, metal or similarly rigid material making most saddles generally inflexible. After prolonged use, a saddle placed directly on the horse's back will tend to rub and chafe the horse, creating discomfort and potential injury to the animal. In addition, due to exercise and the lack of air contacting the horse's back under the saddle, the horse will sweat profusely. The horse's sweat, together with normal dirt and grime, will tend to degrade and deteriorate the saddle as well as possibly injure the horse.
It has long been known to place a pad between the horse's back and the saddle to provide cushioning and comfort for the horse and protect the saddle from sweat and grime. Originally, the pad was nothing more than a blanket and to this day, saddle blankets are commonly used by many riders. Disadvantages of blankets are that they provide little cushioning to the horse and will tend to compress, absorb moisture and provide little or no protection to the saddle.
Prior approaches to solving the problem of providing a saddle pad to cushion the saddle have generally taken the direction of providing an air-filled bladder or cushion between the saddle and the animal's back. One approach shown in U.S. Pat. No. 770,975 describes a saddle incorporating an air cushion that replaces a conventional saddle pad. Alternative approaches incorporate an air cushion into the saddle directly providing an air-filled pad, and are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 753,751 and 532,419. Pads constructed in accordance with these patents all have the disadvantage of placing a rubber material between the horse's back and saddle, which, while it prevents perspiration from contacting the saddle through the rubber bladder, no provision is made for drawing away the perspiration or sweat produced by the horse during the riding exercise.
Therefore, a need has arisen for a method and apparatus for padding and cushioning an equine saddle that overcomes the disadvantages of the prior art, provides greater comfort and cushioning to the horse, provides more air flow under the saddle, and draws moisture and perspiration away from the horse and saddle.